BURBANK : Developer Seeks More Signs Around Mall

Hoping to draw more shoppers to the financially ailing Media City Center, mall developer Alexander Haagen has asked Burbank city officials for permission to put up signs in 15 locations around the site, including a 70-foot-high electric message board near the Golden State Freeway.

But his request spawned divided support from the city’s planning board and criticism from some residents, one of whom called the idea “an aesthetic atrosity.”

“There’s no other word for this scheme,” Councilman-elect Ted McConkey told the Burbank City Council on Tuesday. “Aesthetically, it stinks. . . . It’s going to be a monstrosity.”

Council members, saying they needed more time to tour the proposed sign locations, postponed voting on Haagen’s request until at least May 9, after McConkey and Councilman-elect Bob Kramer take office.

Many of the proposed signs meet the standards of the Municipal Code, city officials say.

Others do not and require a variance or special permit, including the double-sided neon message board, and seven 170-square-foot murals displaying album covers and other artwork for the soon-to-open Virgin Megastore.

“For many months,” said Fred Bruning, a senior vice president for Haagen, “we’ve felt the center has been hindered by poor visibility from the freeway.”

“Airplanes taking off for San Francisco will be able to see that sign,” one Burbank resident sarcastically responded.

The Planning Board reviewed Haagen’s proposal before it reached the City Council and was divided over whether to approve the large freeway message board.

While one member said the sign was needed to drum up more business, another called it garish, a distraction to motorists and reminiscent of an auto dealership.